A MONTHLY PUBLICATION FROM NOBLE RESEARCH INSTITUTE

FIND MORE ARTICLES AT NOBLE.ORGDECEMBER 2018 | VOLUME 36 | ISSUE 12

NOBLENEWS&VIEWS

Salmonella? E. coli? Listeria? If you listen to the daily news, it won’t be long before you hear one or more of these men-tioned.

During just the last couple of months, there have been almost a dozen food recalls due to patho-

gen contamination of products including ice cream, pistachios, macadamia nuts, eggs, ham and pet food.

So why are we hearing more and more about food safety these days?

FOOD SAFETY MODERNIZATION ACTThe increase in visibility can probably be attributed to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

FSMA is considered to be the most sweeping reform of U.S. food safety laws in more than 70 years. It was signed into law

by former President Obama on Jan. 4, 2011, and the FDA has been working tirelessly ever since to write and implement the many rules associated with the law.

FSMA will likely influence every segment of the produce business supply chain, from farm to fork.

There are currently seven major regulations that affect how produce is grown, packed, pro-cessed, shipped and imported into the United States. These new laws have changed the focus from reacting to a problem after it has occurred to actively preventing the microbial contamination from ever happening.

FSMA has resulted in a spotlight on the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) program and its parallel for packers and processors, the Good Handling Practices (GHP) program. In addition to highlighting producers’ and processors’ current food safety practices, the GAP/GHP requirements provide some insight for future FSMA rules.

by Charlie Graham, Ph.D., senior pecan specialist | cjgraham@noble.org

GAP Certification Helps Specialty Crop Growers Address Food Safety

SPECIALTY AG

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2 | NOBLE NEWS&VIEWS

adopting these GAPs can include large capital investments, such as water purification equip-ment, or more moderate expenditures, such as training workers to improve hygiene and upgrading record-keeping technologies.

OTHER FOOD SAFETY AUDIT PROGRAMSIn addition to the USDA certification, there are a number of private food safety audit pro-grams available. Most of their requirements are similar to USDA’s, but they also differ in specific requirements.

Farms and food businesses should check with buyers to confirm their specific require-ments. For example, since July 1, 2007, the USDA’s National School Lunch Program demands that fresh apple providers be GAP-certified under its own GAP program.

CONSUMERS WANT ASSURANCE OF FOOD SAFETY According to U.S. Department of Agriculture, GAP and GHP are voluntary audits that verify that fruits, nuts and vegetables are produced,

packed, handled and stored as safely as possible to minimize risks of microbial food safety hazards.

The concept of GAP should not be new to most specialty crop growers because many “good agri-cultural practices,” like good chemical application records (fertilizers and pesti-cides), have become standard operating procedure at farms across the nation for years. However, these good prac-

tices are becoming even more imperative for growers as the concern about food-borne ill-nesses reaches the media spotlight.

Many farms are finding that even though several commodities such as pecans and sweet potatoes are exempt from the FSMA produce regulation, they are still required to be GAP-certified to sell their commodities. This requirement is being driven by buyers from grocery chains or produce distribution companies that require their suppliers to be GAP-certi-fied. This is especially true for institutional

CHOOSE THE RIGHT GAP PROGRAM FOR YOUThe purpose of GAP is to reduce, as much as possible, the chance of contamination on produce you sell to the consumer. By attending a training session on good practices then developing and implementing your farm safety plan, you have the opportunity to increase your potential market by showing your consumer that you are aware of and willing to address various safety issues. There are several different GAP audit programs available, depending on your target market and farm size:

GROUPGAPGroupGAP makes food safety certification accessible for small- and middle-sized producers by allowing farmers, food hubs and other marketing organizations to work together to undergo GAP certification as a group. This allows group members to pool resources to implement food safety train-ing programs and share the cost of certification. In GroupGAP, a collection of independent farms organize together to create a food safety system. Participants iden-tify the food safety standard best suited to their buyers’ needs. They also work together to develop safety practices and collect required documentation, provide their own internal auditing ser-vices, and participate in an exter-nal audit by the USDA Specialty Crops Inspection Division.

USDA GAP AUDITThe basic USDA GAP audit is aligned with industry best prac-tices and the recommendations made in the FDA’s Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (view at bit.ly/micro-bial-food-hazards). This voluntary program does not guarantee that the farm commodity is devoid of microbial contamination, but it does verify that the farm is using proactive measures to minimize the risk of contamination. More information can be found at the National GAPs Program website at www.gaps.cornell.edu.

USDA HARMONIZED GAPThe USDA Harmonized GAP audit meets industry best prac-tices, FDA best practices, and is aligned with the Produce GAP Harmonization Initiative and the Food Safety Modernization Act’s (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule. The two major guidelines followed include the Field Operations and Harvesting Harmonized Food Safety Standard, applicable to all field operations and greenhouses, and the Post-harvest Harmonized Food Safety Standard, applicable only to the growing operations that have such facilities on-site. The USDA has recently combined the two standards into a single Harmonized GAP Standard which it implemented May 1, 2018.

HARMONIZED GAP PLUS+ STANDARDThe Harmonized GAP Plus+ Stan-dard is typically used as a global market-access solution for the specialty crops industry. Most large, national and international buyers are increasingly requiring a food safety audit against one of the recognized certification programs benchmarked by Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) rec-ognized certification programs. The new USDA Harmonized GAP Plus+ audit includes all USDA GAP and Harmonized GAP alignments, and it is recognized by the GFSI. Walmart stores require suppliers with a total annual revenue greater than $1 million to have their oper-ations certified against one of the internationally-recognized Global Food Safety Initiative standards.

Whether farms are growing produce that is covered or exempt under the new law, everyone knows they are not exempt from the necessity of growing safe food.

markets (e.g., schools, hospitals), produce distributors and retail grocery outlets moti-vated to manage the risk of food-borne illness and recalls.

The general public has continued to ramp up its demand for a safer food supply on a domestic level and from foreign imports. Whether farms are growing produce that is covered or exempt under the new law, every-one knows they are not exempt from the necessity of growing safe food for human or animal consumption.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET CERTIFIED?GAP certifications require written docu-mentation of a food safety program, which includes guidelines on:

• Irrigation and wash water quality.• Soil amendments.• Domesticated and wild animals.• Worker health and hygiene.• Sanitation of equipment, tools and

buildings.• Traceability and recall.• Crisis management. While this list may seem overwhelming

at first, many growers already practice most of the components necessary for good farm safety and management.

SHOULD I GET GAP CERTIFIED?Third-party GAP certification offers a way for growers to let buyers know that they follow appropriate food safety practices on their farms.

Third-party GAP certification is currently voluntary, meaning that it is not yet mandated by law. Growers must measure the economic cost against the benefits before deciding whether to pursue certification. Costs of